TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / December 7, 2024
The United Nations on Friday called for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, highlighting the dire conditions faced by over half a million Palestinians as winter approaches.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has described the situation in Gaza as “a complete collapse of our humanity,” emphasizing the severity of the crisis amidst ongoing Israeli aggression for over 14 months.
“The catastrophe in Gaza is nothing less than a complete collapse of our humanity,” Guterres wrote in a post on X on Friday, adding, “This nightmare must stop.”
He further stressed, “We cannot continue to turn a blind eye” to the unfolding events in the Strip.
At a news conference, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric highlighted the urgent needs of Gaza’s population.
“As winter sets in, some 545,000 people in Gaza are living in damaged buildings and makeshift shelters, underscoring the urgency of ensuring that thousands of tarpaulins and repair materials can be safely brought into the Strip without delay,” he said.
Dujarric also referenced the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), noting that 50 trucks carrying essential supplies such as blankets, generators, medicines, and surgical equipment have been stuck at the Egyptian border for weeks.
Israel retains control over the entry of goods into Gaza via the Rafah crossing at the Palestinian-Egyptian border.
“Many of these trucks have been delayed for more than 50 days,” Dujarric added, emphasizing that the UN and its partners “continue to call for the safe passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza as suffering deepens across the Strip.”
Meanwhile, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell highlighted the plight of children in Gaza, stating, “Nearly one million children in Gaza are facing another winter without basic shelter, food, water and protection.”
She urged action to end their suffering, saying, “The suffering of all children caught in this nightmare must stop,” and stressed, “Children need a ceasefire. Now.”
Ongoing genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,612 Palestinians have been killed, and 105,834 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
